US20230035323A1 - Inkjet printing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Inkjet printing method and apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
US20230035323A1
US20230035323A1 US17/868,080 US202217868080A US2023035323A1 US 20230035323 A1 US20230035323 A1 US 20230035323A1 US 202217868080 A US202217868080 A US 202217868080A US 2023035323 A1 US2023035323 A1 US 2023035323A1
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United States
Prior art keywords
nozzle
nozzles
printing
grade
substrate
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Pending
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US17/868,080
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English (en)
Inventor
Dong Hyun JUN
Woon Sang BAEK
Sang Hyuk YUN
Keun Hwa YANG
Hyung Suk Lee
Cheol Hyung CHO
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Semes Co Ltd
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Semes Co Ltd
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Assigned to SEMES CO., LTD. reassignment SEMES CO., LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: BAEK, WOON SANG, CHO, CHEOL HYUNG, JUN, DONG HYUN, LEE, HYUNG SUK, YANG, KEUN HWA, YUN, SANG HYUK
Publication of US20230035323A1 publication Critical patent/US20230035323A1/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/0451—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits for detecting failure, e.g. clogging, malfunctioning actuator
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J29/00—Details of, or accessories for, typewriters or selective printing mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J29/38—Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism
    • B41J29/393—Devices for controlling or analysing the entire machine ; Controlling or analysing mechanical parameters involving printing of test patterns
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/165—Prevention or detection of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles
    • B41J2/16517—Cleaning of print head nozzles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/165—Prevention or detection of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles
    • B41J2/16579—Detection means therefor, e.g. for nozzle clogging
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/21—Ink jet for multi-colour printing
    • B41J2/2132—Print quality control characterised by dot disposition, e.g. for reducing white stripes or banding
    • B41J2/2142—Detection of malfunctioning nozzles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/04586—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits controlling heads of a type not covered by groups B41J2/04575 - B41J2/04585, or of an undefined type

Definitions

  • Embodiments of the inventive concept described herein relate to an inkjet printing method and an inkjet printing apparatus.
  • a plurality of ink droplets are discharged from a nozzle with a low discharge performance (e.g., a target position, which is a target point at which the nozzle aims to discharge to, and an actual impact position of an ink droplet are significantly different)
  • the plurality of ink droplets discharged on a substrate are located far from a target position. This reduces a quality of the display device.
  • Embodiments of the inventive concept provide an inkjet printing method and an inkjet printing apparatus capable of efficiently performing a printing process on a substrate.
  • Embodiments of the inventive concept provide an inkjet printing method and an inkjet printing apparatus capable of appropriately discharging an ink in a droplet form at a desired position.
  • Embodiments of the inventive concept provide an inkjet printing method and an inkjet printing apparatus capable of improving a discharge quality of an ink while preventing an increase in a time for performing a printing process on a substrate.
  • the inventive concept provides an inkjet printing method for discharging an ink on a substrate using a head having a plurality of nozzles formed thereon.
  • the inkjet printing method includes determining a grade of nozzles by measuring a discharge performance of the nozzles, which is a grading step; selecting a use nozzle that can participate in printing the substrate among the nozzles based on the grade determined at the grading step, which is a nozzle selecting step; and discharging the ink on the substrate using at least one nozzle among use nozzles, which is a printing step.
  • a nozzle having a high grade determined at the grading step among the use nozzles is made to preferentially participate in a printing.
  • a non-use nozzle to be excluded from printing the substrate is selected among the nozzles, and remaining nozzles are selected as use nozzles based on the grade determined at the grading step.
  • a nozzle which has a grade lower than a reference grade is selected as the non-use nozzle.
  • the printing step is performed a plurality of times, and the grading step and the nozzle selecting step is performed between printing steps.
  • the grading step and the nozzle selecting step is performed a plurality of times.
  • a nozzle selected as the non-use nozzle converts to the use nozzle if a set condition is satisfied.
  • the set condition is that a recovery probability that the non-use nozzle will perform a printing on the substrate with a quality of the reference grade or higher is equal to or greater than a set probability, if the non-use nozzle participates in the printing step.
  • the recovery probability is derived by comparing a pre-acquired reference data and a grade data of a nozzle selected as the non-use nozzle, and the grade data is a data on grades determined for a nozzle selected as the non-use nozzle by performing the grading step a plurality of times.
  • the grading step further includes a test discharge step at which each of the nozzles discharge the ink on a test member at least once; and an extraction step for extracting a feature data of each of the nozzles based on an impact point of an ink discharged on the test member.
  • the extraction step is performed a plurality of times, and the extraction step further comprises a normalization step for normalizing the feature data extracted in the extraction step.
  • the grading step further includes a grade determination step for determining the grade of the nozzles, and derives an evaluation data for evaluating a grade of each nozzle based on a normalized feature data, and the grade of the nozzles are determined based on a section in which a change rate of a derived evaluation data exceeds a set value.
  • the inventive concept provides an inkjet printing apparatus.
  • the inkjet printing apparatus includes a printing unit for performing a printing by discharging an ink on a substrate; a maintenance unit positioned alongside the printing unit; a head configured to be movable between the printing unit and the maintenance unit and having a plurality of nozzles formed thereon; a measurement unit positioned at the maintenance unit and measuring a discharge performance of nozzles; and a controller being transmitted with a measured data measured by the measurement unit and controlling the head based on the measured data, and wherein the controller determines the discharge performance of the nozzles based on the measured data, determines a grade of the nozzles, selects use nozzles which can participate in a substrate printing at the printing unit based on the grade, and generates a control signal so the head may discharge the ink on the substrate using at least one nozzle among the use nozzles.
  • the controller generates a control signal to preferentially participate a nozzle having a high grade among the use nozzles in printing the substrate.
  • the controller selects a non-use nozzle to be excluded from printing the substrate among the nozzles based on the grade, and remaining nozzles are selected as the use nozzles.
  • the controller selects a nozzle having a grade lower than a reference grade as the non-use nozzle, and converts a nozzle having a recovery probability, that is, a probability that the substrate will be printed with a quality equal to or greater than the reference grade if the nozzle selected as the non-use nozzle participates in printing the substrate, equal to or greater than a set probability based on a pre-stored reference data among a nozzle selected as the non-use nozzle.
  • the reference data stored at the controller includes an information of the grades changing according to a number of discharge sessions of a discharge of the ink by the nozzles.
  • the inventive concept provides an inkjet printing method for discharging an ink on a substrate using a head having a plurality of nozzles formed thereon.
  • the inkjet printing method includes determining a grade of nozzles by measuring a discharge performance of the nozzles, which is a grading step; selecting a use nozzle that can participate in printing the substrate among the nozzles based on the grade determined at the grading step, which is a nozzle selecting step; and discharging the ink on the substrate using at least one nozzle among use nozzles, which is a printing step, at which a nozzle having a high grade determined at the grading step among the use nozzles is made to preferentially participate in a printing.
  • the grading step, the nozzle selecting step, and the printing step is performed a plurality of times, and a grade of each of the nozzles are re-evaluated each time the grading step is performed.
  • the grading step, the nozzle selecting step, and the printing step are performed a plurality of times, and a selecting of the use nozzle is performed each time the nozzle selecting step is performed.
  • a printing process on a substrate may be efficiently performed.
  • an ink in a droplet form may be appropriately discharged at a desired position.
  • a discharge quality of an ink may be improved while an increase in a time for performing a printing process on a substrate may be prevented.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a substrate treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a nozzle formed on a head of FIG. 1 .
  • FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an inkjet printing method according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.
  • FIG. 4 is a detailed flowchart of the grading step of FIG. 3 .
  • FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a feature data extracted at an extraction step of FIG. 4 .
  • FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the feature data extracted at the extraction step of FIG. 4 .
  • FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the feature data extracted at the extraction step of FIG. 4 .
  • FIG. 8 is a graph for describing a method of determining a grade of nozzles at a grade determination step of FIG. 4 .
  • inventive concept may be variously modified and may have various forms, and specific embodiments thereof will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail.
  • the embodiments according to the concept of the inventive concept are not intended to limit the specific disclosed forms, and it should be understood that the present inventive concept includes all transforms, equivalents, and replacements included in the spirit and technical scope of the inventive concept.
  • a detailed description of related known technologies may be omitted when it may make the essence of the inventive concept unclear.
  • first”, “second”, “third”, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the inventive concept.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a substrate treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.
  • the substrate treating apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive concept may be an inkjet printing apparatus that treats a substrate by supplying an ink in a droplet form on the substrate S.
  • the substrate S may be a glass.
  • the substrate S may be a glass substrate for manufacturing a display device.
  • a type of the substrate S is not limited thereto, and may be variously modified into a known object to be treated which requires a supply of a droplet type ink.
  • the inkjet printing apparatus may include a printing unit 10 , a maintenance unit 30 , an ink supply unit 50 , and a controller 70 .
  • the printing unit 10 may perform a printing process on the substrate S.
  • the ink supply unit 50 to be described later may be an area for performing a printing process by supplying inks in a droplet form to a top surface of the substrate S.
  • the printing unit 10 may include a printing stage 100 and a moving member 110 .
  • the printing stage 100 may define an area in which the substrate S is treated.
  • the printing stage 100 may be provided with an air supply pipe (not shown) that supplies an air to a bottom surface of the substrate S to float the substrate S, and an air exhaust pipe (not shown) that sucks some of the air supplied by the air supply pipe.
  • the printing stage 100 may function as a floating stage for floating the substrate S.
  • the substrate S floated by the air supplied at the printing stage 100 may be gripped by the moving member 110 .
  • the moving member 110 may grip a side and/or another side of the substrate S.
  • the moving member 110 may grip a side and/or another side of the substrate S in a vacuum adsorption manner.
  • the moving member 110 may move the substrate S along a direction in which the printing stage 100 extends.
  • the moving member 110 may be referred to as a gripper.
  • the maintenance unit 30 may be disposed alongside the printing unit 10 .
  • the maintenance unit 30 may perform a maintenance on the head unit 510 of the ink supply unit 50 to be described later.
  • the maintenance unit 30 may measure a state of the head unit 510 .
  • a test discharge of a head H included in the head unit 510 may be performed to measure a discharge performance of the nozzles N.
  • the maintenance unit 30 may have a same or a similar process environment as the printing unit 10 .
  • the maintenance unit 30 may include a maintenance stage 300 and a measurement unit 310 .
  • the maintenance stage 300 may have a same or a similar structure as the printing stage 100 described above, and although not shown, the maintenance stage 300 may also be provided with a moving member having a same or a similar structure as the moving member 110 .
  • the measurement unit 310 may be disposed in the maintenance unit 30 .
  • the measurement unit 310 may be disposed to measure a discharge performance of nozzles N to be described later.
  • the discharge performance of the nozzle N to be measured by the measurement unit 310 may be, for example, an accuracy of an impact position of the ink discharged from the nozzles N.
  • the accuracy of the impact position increases as a distance from a target position of the ink discharged from each nozzle N decreases.
  • the measurement unit 310 may be a JOF unit capable of supplying a test member TW, for example, a test film.
  • the measurement unit 310 may supply the test member TW by winding or rolling the test member TW in a roller manner.
  • the measurement unit 310 may include an image acquisition member such as a camera to acquire an image I related to the ink discharged to the test member TW and a light source.
  • a measurement data acquired and measured by the measurement unit 310 e.g., an image I related to the ink discharged to the test member TW
  • the ink supply unit 50 may discharge an ink onto the substrate S.
  • the ink supply unit 50 may include a gantry 500 and a head unit 510 .
  • the gantry 500 may be installed to cross the printing stage 100 and the maintenance stage 300 when viewed from above.
  • the gantry 500 may provide a moving path through which the head unit 510 may move back and forth between the printing stage 100 of the printing unit 10 and the maintenance stage 300 of the maintenance unit 30 . That is, the head unit 510 may be configured to be movable between the printing unit 10 and the maintenance unit 30 .
  • the head unit 510 may include a plurality of heads H, and a plurality of nozzles N may be formed in each of the heads H, as illustrated in FIG. 2 .
  • FIG. 2 illustrates that there are a total of 10 nozzles N from the first nozzle N 1 to the tenth nozzle N 10
  • the inventive concept is not limited thereto, and the number of nozzles N formed in each head H may be variously modified as necessary.
  • the head unit 510 may have about 30,000 nozzles N per color R, G, and B, and a total of about 90,000 nozzles N.
  • the controller 70 may control the substrate treating apparatus.
  • the controller 70 may generate a control signal so that the substrate treating apparatus may perform an inkjet printing method to be described later.
  • the controller 70 may receive a measurement data measured by the measurement unit 310 and generate a control signal for controlling the head H of the head unit 510 based on the measurement data.
  • the controller 70 may also consist of one or more processors that perform a controlling of the substrate treating apparatus, and a computer program stored in a computer-readable medium, including instructions for such processors to perform operations to control the substrate treating apparatus.
  • the controller 70 may include a user interface including a keyboard for performing a command input operation or the like to manage the substrate treating apparatus by an operator, or a display for visually displaying an operation state of the substrate treating apparatus.
  • the user interface and a storage unit may be connected to the processor.
  • FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an inkjet printing method according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.
  • the inkjet printing method according to an embodiment of the inventive concept may include a pre-setting step S 00 , a printing step S 10 , a grading step S 20 , and a nozzle selecting step S 30 .
  • the printing step S 10 , the grading step S 20 , and the nozzle setting step S 30 may be repeatedly performed based on the number of substrates S requiring a treatment.
  • a set value for controlling the head unit 510 in the first printing step S 10 of the head unit 510 may be input.
  • the head unit 510 may perform a plurality of test discharges of the nozzles N to correct an ink discharge timing, an ink volume, and an ink impact position of the nozzle N, may measure a discharge performance for each nozzle N in advance, and input the grade for each nozzle N to the controller 70 .
  • the grades for each of the nozzles N input in the pre-setting step SOO may be as follows.
  • a high grade of the nozzle N may mean that the impact position of the ink discharged from the nozzle N is more accurate.
  • the high grade of the nozzle N may mean that when the ink is discharged from the nozzle N a plurality of times, the impact positions of the ink are relatively more gathered at the target position.
  • the high grade of the nozzle N may mean that a grade of the nozzle N is closer to grade A among grades A, B, and C.
  • the above classification described as A, B, and C is merely an example and may be modified in various ways capable of expressing a discharge performance of the nozzle N.
  • a use nozzle capable of participating in a printing of the substrate S and a non-use nozzle uncapable of participating in the printing of the substrate S may be sorted based on a grade of a previously input nozzle N.
  • the non-use nozzle may be selected as nozzles N having a grade lower than a preset reference grade.
  • nozzles N of a grade C lower than the Grade B may be excluded from printing the substrate S.
  • the first nozzle N 1 and the fourth nozzle N 4 of Table 1 may be selected as non-use nozzles.
  • the second nozzle N 2 , the third nozzle N 3 , and the fifth nozzle N 5 to the tenth nozzle N 10 may be selected as a use nozzle.
  • the head unit 510 may perform a first printing step S 10 .
  • the head unit 510 may discharge an ink to the substrate S.
  • nozzles N selected as use nozzles among the nozzles N of the head unit 510 may participate in a printing operation for the substrate S.
  • the number of nozzles N participating in the printing operation may vary according to a process time set by a user at the controller 70 . For example, if the user wants to complete the printing step S 10 on the substrate S for a relatively short time, the number of nozzles N participating in the printing operation may be increased, and if the user wants to perform the printing step S 10 on the substrate S for a relatively long time, the number of nozzles N participating in the printing operation may be decreased. That is, the number of nozzles N participating in the printing operation may vary according to the user's setting.
  • the controller 70 may first select a high-grade nozzle N among the use nozzles to participate in printing the substrate S.
  • the nozzles N participating in the printing step S 10 in Table 1 may be a second nozzle N 2 , a sixth nozzle N 6 , a seventh nozzle N 7 , and an eighth nozzle N 8 . Accordingly, a printing quality for the substrate S may be further improved.
  • one printing step S 10 may not perform a printing operation on a plurality of substrates S, but may perform a printing operation on a single substrate S.
  • a grading step S 20 may be performed.
  • the head unit 510 may move to above the measurement unit 310 to measure a discharge performance of the nozzles N, and then determine the grades of the nozzles N again.
  • the grades of the nozzles N input in the pre-setting step S 00 may be updated.
  • the grades of the updated nozzles N may be as follows.
  • FIG. 4 is a detailed flowchart of the grading step of FIG. 3 .
  • the grading step S 20 may include a test discharge step S 21 , an extraction step S 22 , a normalization step S 23 , and a grade determination step S 24 .
  • the test discharge step S 21 , the extraction step S 22 , the normalization step S 23 , and the grade determination step S 24 may be sequentially performed.
  • the test discharge step S 21 can be a step where each of the nozzles (N, that is, all nozzles N) discharge an ink to the test member TW at least once.
  • each nozzle N may discharge the ink to the test member a plurality of times (for example, five or more times).
  • the measurement unit 310 may acquire an image I (an embodiment of a measurement data) of the test member TW, and may transmit the image to the controller 70 .
  • a feature data for each nozzle N may be extracted based on the impact position of the ink discharged on the test member TW.
  • a distance from P 1 to P 2 Fl 1 , a distance from P 2 to P 3 F 12 , and a distance from P 4 to P 5 F 14 may be calculated.
  • an F 1 value (an embodiment of a feature data) obtained by summing all the values of F 11 to F 14 may be calculated. This process may be performed on each of the nozzles N.
  • a nozzle N having a smaller F 1 value with respect to each nozzle N has a relatively small size change of an impact position of an ink over time, it may be determined to be a nozzle N having a relatively high discharge performance.
  • distances between five points P 1 to P 5 and a center point RP of a set region RA F 11 , F 12 , F 13 , F 14 , and F 15 may be calculated and a largest value among those distances (an embodiment of a pitch data) may be extracted. This process may be performed on each of the nozzles N.
  • the nozzle N may be graded using basic statistics.
  • five points related to the impact position of the ink include all information on the X-axis and the Y-axis, that is, a multi-dimensional information.
  • it is difficult to compare a quality between the nozzles N For example, it is difficult to compare whether the impact positions are by a poor discharge performance of a nozzle N elongated in the X-axis direction or a poor discharge performance of a nozzle N elongated in the Y-axis direction.
  • a hyperplane may be derived using a principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm, and five points P 1 to P 5 may be projected onto the hyperplane.
  • PCA principal component analysis
  • the feature data extracted at the extraction step S 22 is merely an example, and various feature data that may be used to determine the grade of the nozzle N using a data (e.g., image I) regarding the ink discharged to the test member TW at the test discharge step S 21 .
  • a data e.g., image I
  • the extraction step S 22 may be performed a plurality of times.
  • the levels of the feature data extracted in the extraction step S 22 may be different from each other.
  • some feature data may occupy an excessively large portion of determining the grade of the nozzle N, and others may occupy an excessively small portion of determining the grade of the nozzle N.
  • a normalization step S 23 of normalizing an extracted feature data and matching levels between the feature data equally or similarly is performed.
  • a grade determination step S 24 of determining the grade of the nozzle N may be performed.
  • the feature data on which the normalization step S 23 is performed may be used in a statistical manner (e.g., a method such as an adding up, but is not limited thereto, and various statistical methods may be used) to derive an evaluation data value E for evaluating the grade of each nozzle.
  • grades of the nozzle N may be sorted based on a section in which a change rate of the evaluation data E exceeds a preset value (that is, a section in which a size of the evaluation data E is relatively largely changed).
  • the first nozzle N 1 and the third nozzle N 3 may be determined to be grade C
  • the fourth nozzle N 4 , the fifth nozzle N 5 , and the ninth nozzle N 9 may be determined to be grade B
  • the seventh nozzle N 10 , the sixth nozzle N 6 , and the eighth nozzle A 8 may be determined to be grade A.
  • a nozzle selecting step S 30 of selecting nozzles N to participate in the printing step S 10 may be performed.
  • a use nozzle capable of participating in printing the substrate S and a non-use nozzle excluded from printing the substrate S may be sorted based on the grade of the nozzle N updated in the grading step S 20 .
  • the non-use nozzle may be selected as nozzles N having a grade lower than a preset reference grade.
  • nozzles N of a grade C lower than the grade B may be excluded from printing the substrate S.
  • the first nozzle N 1 and the third nozzle N 3 of Table 2 may be selected as non-use nozzles.
  • the fourth nozzle N 4 , the fifth nozzle N 5 , the ninth nozzle N 9 , the seventh nozzle N 7 , the tenth nozzle N 10 , the sixth nozzle N 6 , the eighth nozzle N 8 , and the second nozzle N 2 may be selected as use nozzles.
  • the head unit 510 may perform a second printing step S 10 .
  • the head unit 510 may discharge an ink to the substrate S.
  • nozzles N selected as use nozzles among the nozzles N of the head unit 510 may participate in a printing operation for the substrate S.
  • the controller 70 may first select a high-grade nozzle N among the use nozzles to participate in printing the substrate S. For example, when the number of nozzles N participating in the actual printing operation is four, as nozzles N participating in the printing step S 10 of Table 2, four nozzles may be selected among the seventh nozzle N 7 , the tenth nozzle N 10 , the sixth nozzle N 6 , the eighth nozzle N 8 , and the second nozzle N 2 to perform a printing on the substrate.
  • the grades of the nozzles N are updated, and the nozzles N having a high discharge performance based on the grades are preferentially discharged, thereby improving a treating efficiency with respect to the substrate S.
  • the user may variously change treating conditions such as a process time, and in some cases, it may be necessary to reduce a time during which the printing step S 10 is performed as much as possible.
  • a nozzle selected as the non-use nozzle at the nozzle selecting step S 30 satisfies a set condition, it is possible to switch to the use nozzle.
  • a nozzle selected as the non-use nozzle at the nozzle selecting step S 30 satisfies a set condition, it is possible to switch to the use nozzle.
  • the grading step S 20 may be performed a plurality of times. In this case, as shown in ⁇ Table 3> below, data on a grade change of each nozzle N determined in the grading step S 20 may be accumulated.
  • the first, second, third, fifth nozzles with a grade C (below the reference grade) measured in a fourth session of a grading step S 20 are first selected as non-use nozzles.
  • the number of use nozzles that may actually participate in printing the substrate S may be relatively small and thus it may be disadvantageous for a process performance.
  • the first, second, third, and fifth nozzles are determined to be grade C (even for nozzles sorted as non-use nozzles), there is a probability (hereinafter, referred to as a recovery probability) of performing a printing at a quality higher than or equal to a reference grade (e.g., grade B) in the printing step S 10 .
  • a recovery probability a probability of performing a printing at a quality higher than or equal to a reference grade (e.g., grade B) in the printing step S 10 .
  • a nozzle having a recovery probability greater than or equal to a set probability even if the nozzle is selected as a non-use nozzle by receiving a grade C in the grading step S 20 , the nozzle may be converted to a use nozzle.
  • the recovery probability may be confirmed through a previously obtained reference data.
  • the reference data may be previously stored in the controller 70 . Below is an embodiment of the reference data.
  • the nozzles switching from a non-use nozzle to a use nozzle in ⁇ Table 3> may be the second nozzle N 2 and the fifth nozzle N 5 .
  • inventive concept is not limited to the above-described specific embodiment, and it is noted that an ordinary person in the art, to which the inventive concept pertains, may be variously carry out the inventive concept without departing from the essence of the inventive concept claimed in the claims and the modifications should not be construed separately from the technical spirit or prospect of the inventive concept.

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  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)
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US20150241317A1 (en) * 2014-02-26 2015-08-27 Panasonic Corporation Method for mass-producing coated products

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JP4983300B2 (ja) * 2007-02-23 2012-07-25 セイコーエプソン株式会社 液状体の吐出方法、カラーフィルタの製造方法、有機ｅｌ素子の製造方法、電気光学装置の製造方法
KR20090013673A (ko) * 2007-08-02 2009-02-05 삼성전자주식회사 잉크젯 화상형성장치 및 그 제어방법
US9694598B2 (en) * 2010-05-24 2017-07-04 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Image processing apparatus, ink jet printing apparatus, and image processing method

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US20150241317A1 (en) * 2014-02-26 2015-08-27 Panasonic Corporation Method for mass-producing coated products

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